Kulwant Singh
Rajpua /Patiala, September 27, 2020- Punjab Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu today kick started paddy procurement at Rajpura Grain Market. Reiterating that Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh led state government always stood by the farmers, he averred that every effort would be made for the withdrawal of the anti-farmer bills passed by the Union Government. He was accompanied by MLA Rajpura Hardial Singh Kamboj, MLA Ghanour Madan Lal Jalalpur, Punjab Mandi Board Senior Vice Chairman. Vijay Kalra and Food and Civil Supplies Director Anindita Mitra.
Ashu said, following the directives of the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, the state government has made elaborate arrangements for the procurement of expected arrival of 170 lakh metric tonnes of paddy across the mandis of the state, adding that state government was committed to procure every grain of the produce because it was the fruit of six months of hard work of the farmers. “Punjab Government has made all out arrangements for the smooth and uninterrupted procurement of paddy crop in all the Mandis of the state keeping in view the COVID-19 pandemic”, he added.
The Food Minister said that due to the early arrival of paddy crop, the state government has started the procurement of paddy from today and will ensure early payment of the crop to the farmers. He said that this time, Punjab Mandi Board has set up 4035 procurement centers in the state including 1872 official centers, where 30x30 feet space has been earmarked in wake of Corona. Besides this, masks and soap and sanitizer for hand washing are being provided to farmers and arrangements for labour, gunny bags and transport for lifting of crops have also been completed.
Ashu appealed to the farmers not to set fire crop residue in the fields as it will exacerbate COVID situation in the state and bring only dry produce to the mandis for easy and hassle-free procurement. He said that similar to the wheat season, farmers would be able to bring their produce in the Mandis by obtaining the passes given to them through commission agents and these would be of different colors for various days. “Arhtiyas have been asked to make the payment of the purchased crop as per the MSP (Rs.1888 per quintal for Grade-A) directly to the accounts of the farmers at the same time as they got from procurement agencies”, he added.